Case Number 115040 - Dynamic Wind Turbine

Description: Over the last 5 years, the U.S. wind industry has invested $12 billion annually on average while providing over 30% of all new power capacity installed.
Dr. Shaaban Abdallah, professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati, has revolutionized vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWT) by incorporating moving blades. Conventional VAWTs sacrifice efficiency as each blade, assists spin and opposes spin, during a revolution. (Think of the anemometer—the three spinning cups used to measure wind speed).
Dr. Abdallah’s invention is to boost efficiency by using hinged blades which swing out of the way when they would otherwise be opposing the rotation of the device. Even a conventional VAWT has all of these advantages:
• Stable at higher wind speeds
• Unaffected by wind direction
• Electric generators can be positioned near the ground for easier maintenance access
• more efficient land use in a wind farm
Dr. Abdallah’s invention includes these advantages, plus greater efficiency and an aerodynamic brake. With internal funding from the university, the VAWT with Dynamic Blades has proceeded to the stage of a full scale (1 meter by 3 meters) prototype.